So here we are – still tisking and tasking: If you want to get up to speed on this project I introduced it in the post: A Tisket a Tasket… What’s in My Basket… And project progress was reported here:
So this is week two and I didn’t do half of what I intended to do… luckily I don’t write my mental list down… but I haven’t quit – the goal was even a tiny step is a step forward in the decluttering process. Here is the list for this week:
Tisk #1: Emptied out two drawers of ancient artworks – not quite so precious anymore! An entire garbage bag of artworks… Since these were stashed away I have got a better system of dealing with the copious paperwork. Now I pile it up for a week and then toss – anything that can’t be parted with I photograph.
- Task #1: Photographed the works of art, before the toss.
Tisk #2: Sorted Hood #2’s clothing drawers – my goodness how did they get so out of control so quickly! Passed on a lot of clothes he has grown out of – had to drag away a pair of age 5 trousers – specially since he is nine now and they are no longer at their very best!!!
- Task #2:Vacuumed out the car – I know this is monumental!
Tisk #3: Went through Hood #1’s clothes, well they should just be clothes in there – but actually there were cars and papers and tiny pencils and diagrams of projects and epic stories and notebooks and scraps of accumulated stuff…
- Task #3: The task was obviously just to separate clothes from accumulated junk… which we resolved and now he is back to having clothes drawers.
Tisk #4: Decluttered the coffee cupboard. Coffee is kind of sacred in our house so I never venture into the cupboard in a “ridding” manner. Well there was a jar we have a had forever that doesn’t actually seal shut – no reason to keep that and a couple of travel mugs that were well beyond their sell by date – we have newer and nicer ones!
- Task #4: Not to mention that the cupboard was well grubby with spilt beans and coffee grindings spilt there and so on… cleaned up, thank you very much!
Tisk #5: Condiments – Oh the father person loves them and a meal is not a meal without a sauce! I managed to reduce those condiments on the fridge door to a third of what they were! Tossed anything past the sell-by-date and no-longer-looking-at-all-well ones.
- Task #5: Wiped the fridge shelves clean. Our fridge shelves can get really grubby with the number of little hands doing self-service out of the fridge in a given day. Love this job done!
Tisk #6: Gathered together a bunch of old text books – why in the world am I hanging on to these. Most of these books I had convinced myself that my kids might need them one day – like no – if they want to study a topic ten years from now there will be newer and lovelier books on the market. It is unlikely that they will even glance at my old textbooks in fact they are so boring looking they may even put them off a topic!!! I still need to pass these on, but I have put them all together – good to go!
- Task #6: Chose a lovely task to suit the break in our intrepid weather. I scattered bark – outdoors, yay! We use it as a mulch to retain the slightest drip of water in the summer and it is great for covering sandy patches in the grass and under the climbing frame. The best purpose of bark, and perhaps it is not marketed as such, it is fabulous for anti-neighborhood – cat issues. Any sandy patch can be the victim of a toileteering neighborhood pet and potentially dangerous to little kids playing. Sprinkling bark has proved to be a great deterrent to them. Clearly bark is not as comfortable as sand on the nether region.
Tisk #7: Went through the school books on the dresser and removed all the workbooks that are filled up and finished.
- Task #7: Started the task of listing the books we needed for the next year of school from the homeschool catalogue. I always put this off as long as possible – I just don’t like getting to it! It is a big task as I have to go through all the books on the menu up to and including grade 6. Figuring out who needs what is fine, but getting my shopping list together always takes time – separating out the wants and needs! However we are nearing the end of our school year and I will have to order soon to get them in time to start the next year. No overnight shipping when you live on the far side of the moon!
And I thought I would mention just what I intend to tackle this week coming:
This is my “Needs Repair Basket“… it normally has a couple of items in it – right now it is exploding.
Anything that I cannot fix instantly I pop into the bag and it hangs behind the front door – a little reminder every time I go in and out… normally I tackle it on a Tuesday evening: one week I repair books/repairable toys and the next week I actually sew very minor items (don’t laugh, I really do!)…
Right now I fear the hooks the bag hangs on are about to reach the end of their usefulness as the bag is fairly burdened.
- We have a lot of books for repair. I believe books should be part of the family and should live alongside kids. Some books are so loved they literally are read until they fall apart. As soon as there is a slight tear the book gets whipped out of circulation until I have taped it – that way they live a little longer. If you leave them they end up destroyed.
- When it comes to toys all children should be born with a glue gun under their arm. I only repair toys that are part of The Se7en Best Toys or ones that genuinely qualify as treasure – others just get lost. Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies.
- Sewing or actual mending is usually a splitting beanie baby or a button… nothing serious. I just can not be too panicked about rips and tears in clothes, and holes in knees are quite cute – I leave them. I do have one hood that quite literally bounces through his clothes – lets just say he doesn’t leave any hand-me-downs.
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